Substitute House Bill No. 6834
Substitute House Bill No. 6834
PUBLIC ACT NO. 97-27
AN ACT CONCERNING THE BIDDING REQUIREMENTS FOR
MUNICIPAL HOUSING AUTHORITY CONTRACTS FOR WORK,
SUPPLIES AND PURCHASES OF PERSONAL PROPERTY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 8-44 of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu
thereof:
An authority shall constitute a public body
corporate and politic, exercising public powers
and having all the powers necessary or convenient
to carry out the purposes and provisions of this
chapter, including the following enumerated powers
in addition to others granted by any provision of
the general statutes: (a) To sue and be sued; to
have a seal and to alter the same at pleasure; to
have perpetual succession; to make and execute
contracts and other instruments necessary or
convenient to the exercise of the powers of the
authority; and to make and from time to time amend
and repeal bylaws, rules and regulations not
inconsistent with this chapter to carry into
effect the powers and purposes of the authority;
(b) within its area of operation, to prepare,
carry out, acquire, lease and operate housing
projects and to provide for the construction,
reconstruction, improvement, alteration or repair
of any housing project or any part thereof either
directly or in the form of loans or other similar
assistance to developers, all such housing
projects where families with children are eligible
for occupancy to contain reasonably adequate
outdoor playground areas; (c) to arrange or
contract for the furnishing by any person or
agency, public or private, of services,
privileges, works or facilities for, or in
connection with, a housing project or the
occupants thereof; (d) to demise any dwellings,
houses, accommodations, lands, buildings,
structures or facilities embraced in any housing
project and, subject to the limitations contained
in this chapter, to establish and revise the rents
or charges therefor; to own, hold and improve real
or personal property; to purchase, lease, obtain
options upon or acquire, by gift, grant, bequest,
devise or otherwise, any real or personal property
or any interest therein, provided no real property
or interest therein shall be acquired for the site
of a proposed housing project until the housing
authority has held a public hearing concerning
such site, notice of which has been published in
the form of a legal advertisement in a newspaper
having a substantial circulation in the
municipality at least twice at intervals of not
less than two days, the first not more than
fifteen nor less than ten days, and the last not
less than two days, before such hearing; to insure
or provide for the insurance of any real or
personal property or operations of the authority
against any risks or hazards; to procure insurance
or guarantees from the federal government of the
payment of any debts or parts thereof, whether or
not incurred by such authority, secured by
mortgages on any property included in any of its
housing projects; (e) to invest any funds held in
reserves or sinking funds, or any funds not
required for immediate disbursements, in
investments legal for mutual savings banks,
provided that the provisions of subdivision (2) of
subsection (n) of section 36-96 shall not be
applicable to any such investment, and to purchase
its bonds at a price not more than the principal
amount thereof and accrued interest, all bonds so
purchased to be cancelled; (f) within its area of
operation, to investigate living, dwelling and
housing conditions and the means and methods of
improving such conditions; to determine where slum
areas exist or where there is a shortage of
decent, safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations
for families of low and moderate income; to make
studies and recommendations relating to the
problem of clearing, replanning and reconstructing
slum areas, and the problem of providing dwelling
accommodations for families of low and moderate
income, and to cooperate with the municipality or
the state or any political subdivision thereof in
action taken in connection with such problems; (g)
to promote the creation and preservation of
housing for low and moderate income persons and
families, either directly or through an agency or
instrumentality designated or appointed by the
authority, by lending or otherwise making
available to developers the proceeds from the sale
of obligations which are tax-exempt pursuant to
the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal
revenue code of the United States, as from time to
time amended, or Section 11(b) of the United
States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, or any
successor provisions amendatory or supplementary
thereto, provided no such obligations or other
notes or securities issued by any agency or
instrumentality designated or approved by the
authority pursuant to the provisions of this
subdivision, shall create or imply any
indebtedness of any kind on the part of the
housing authority, the state, or any political
subdivision thereof; and (h) to exercise all or
any part or combination of powers herein granted.
No provision of law with respect to the operation
or disposition of property by other public bodies
shall be applicable to an authority unless the
General Assembly specifically so states. All
contracts to be made or let for work, supplies, or
for purchases of personal property of every
description, shall be publicly advertised, for the
purpose of receiving bids upon the same, in a
local daily paper and, if deemed advisable, in
other papers, provided the several parts of such
work, supplies or personal property shall,
together, involve the expenditure of more than
[ten] TWENTY-FIVE thousand dollars. The bids
received in response to such public advertisement
shall be publicly opened at a hearing of the
authority, the date and time of such hearing being
named in such public advertisement, and the
contract or award shall be made by the authority
with or to the lowest responsible bidder. Such
bidding may be waived by vote of the authority
when the public interest so requires, provided the
reasons for such waiver shall be set forth and
made public and provided the total cost of such
work, supplies or personal property shall not
exceed [twenty] THIRTY thousand dollars. In any
contract let in connection with a housing project,
an authority, notwithstanding any provision to the
contrary in this chapter or in any other statute,
may include stipulations requiring that the
contractor and any subcontractors comply with
requirements as to minimum wages, maximum hours
and any conditions which the federal government or
any other obligee may have imposed as prerequisite
to the granting of financial aid to the housing
project.
Approved May 6, 1997